Simple Tides / Guides / San Diego Tides

San Diego Tide Chart

San Diego runs on the classic Southern California mixed semidiurnal tide — two highs and two lows most days, with one of each noticeably bigger than the other. Here is the live forecast and what it means for the water around America’s Finest City.

The pattern

Expect a tidal range of roughly 5 to 7 feet around San Diego, with the classic West Coast asymmetry: one high tide each day clearly outranks the other, and the same goes for the lows. The biggest swings of the month arrive around the full and new moons, when spring tides push the highs higher and drain the lows lower — that is when the tide pools at Cabrillo National Monument are at their best and the beaches are at their widest.

Surfing, fishing, and boating

San Diego’s breaks — Black’s Beach, Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs — each have a locally preferred tide stage, since the same swell breaks very differently over a reef at low versus high water. In the bays, Mission Bay and San Diego Bay hold calico bass, halibut, and corbina, and moving water around the tide changes is prime time. Boaters launching at Shelter Island or Mission Bay should mind the ebb, which can stack up against the afternoon sea breeze at the bay entrances.

Grunion runs

San Diego County beaches host the famous grunion runs from late spring through summer, when small silver fish ride the surf ashore at night to spawn — timed to the nights just after the highest high tides. Check the forecast above for the biggest evening highs if you want to watch. See also our Southern California tide guide for the regional picture.